Wednesday, 9 November 2011

TARTS...

Sweat the aubergine and leeks down so they're both soft and wilted. Add salt & pepper, you'll probably need to get the aubergines on the bottom of the pan with a fair bit of oil so they soften more easily and the leeks on top of them helping to steam/cook through the aubergine.

Add a lid to help speed up the cooking, my shortcrust pastry was still frozen so I left them on top of the pan lid to defrost.

My second option for the tart, leek and crispy bacon with fresh thyme and black pepper; melt down the leeks, with butter and fry the bacon in a pan until crispy. Once you've rolled out the shortcrust pastry evenly add it to the pan (make sure you butter the pan first) and gently press the pastry into the edges, with a fork then prick the bottom of the pastry so it doesn't bubble when you cook it. Add filling on top.

Cover with whisked eggs, 6 at least, with a large splash of milk and cover with cheese (you can use any cheese you like, mature cheddar, parmesan go for flavoursome cheeses, the strong ones), salt and pepper. I've used the back of a fork to make the edges look pretty.

Broccoli and feta, the aubergine went on top...follow the instructions above, perhaps steam the broccoli first for 5mins so it needs less cooking in the oven. Once you've added the egg mixture cook on 180/200 for 20 to 25mins keep checking to make sure you don't overcook it.